Prague, Oct 31 (IANS): The Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, the lower house of the parliament, approved the extension of the state of emergency in the country until November 20.

The current state of emergency would end on November 3. The government sought to extend it until December 3, but did not receive sufficient support for another 30-day extension, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

The government argues that the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country is still critical. It wants to maintain the validity of some restrictions which might end if the state of emergency ended.

During the height of the first wave of the pandemic this spring, a state of emergency was imposed from March 12 to May 17. The lower house had accepted two extensions during that period.

The Czech Republic has witnessed a rapid spread of COVID-19 in recent weeks. It has registered 316,838 confirmed cases so far, including 182,950 active ones.